The haunting allure of Aokigahara, the Japanese ‘suicide forest’ Logan Paul captured on film

In the 2015 drama “The Sea of Trees,” Matthew McConaughey’s character stumbles upon one written in both English and Japanese. “The life you were given from your parents is precious,” it reads. “Once more, meditate on your parents, your siblings, your children. Think about them, do not suffer alone.”

Then, several steps later, another states: “Hold on a second. Is your life a happy one? Or a difficult one?

“The world is not only full of difficult things. There are many things that are fun. Please think again, so that you can make your life a happy one. You will be able to think of something. You only have one life, take care of it.”

As depicted in movies and in written accounts, the sprawling woodland, less than 100 miles from Tokyo, is blanketed with trees that cast shadows over the occasional reminder that someone died there — a pair of shoes, a briefcase, a photograph of a loved one or, perhaps, a decaying body.

Over the years, it has become known colloquially as “suicide forest,” a place where some have gone to die.

The lush green landscape is known for towering trees hundreds of years old. The Japanese tourism agency warns visitors to stay on the designated trails, writing on its website, “If you step out of the trail, you will only see trees around you, making it very easy to get lost.” In fact, there are ropes sectioning off certain areas in the forest and warning people about how they may get turned around.

But the forest is known for something else, too — it is where some die by suicide.

“In the old days in Japan, suicide was mainly known as a samurai’s act,” geologist Azusa Hayano told Vice, which translated his words in a 2012 documentary. “In other cases, poor families would abandon their elders in the mountains. That’s how it was back then. They weren’t killing themselves because they couldn’t adapt to society. That didn’t happen like it does now. It’s a modern phenomenon.”

Local legend has it that Aokigahara was a place where people once practiced ubasute — taking an elderly or sick relative to a remote area and leaving them to die. Tower of Waves, a 1960s novel by Seichō Matsumoto, features a beautiful, love-torn heroine who commits suicide there. The Complete Manual of Suicide, by Wataru Tsurumi, named the forest as a perfect place to die.

It has also appeared in pop culture.

The forest has been featured in several films, including the 2012 Vice documentary as well as the 2016 horror movie “The Forest,” starring Natalie Dormer. Dormer told the entertainment news site Den of Geek that she had never heard of the forest before she read the script but that she became “fascinated by the whole heritage of the place.”

Dormer said:

I didn’t see anything unusual, but I stood in front of the signs. They’re there. And the tape that people tie around trees, or rope, to walk in is there. It’s really there. It’s very interesting: the day I went, it was a beautiful sunny day, the birds were singing, it was a blue sky, we saw lots of hikers. People with kids walking along, very happy, a lovely hiking trail. Beautiful. But at the same time, every sort of half-a-mile or whatever, there will be a sign like that as you say.

So, I think you just feel a compassion and a sadness that there are still people who go to that place with the intention of going in and not coming out.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, risk factors associated with suicide may include mental disorders such as clinical depression, previous suicide attempts, a barrier to accessing mental health treatment, physical illness and feelings of hopelessness or isolation. Those who need help can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK.